All To Play For
by Caracal222
Summary: At the Amity Park Fair, Danny runs across a mysterious fortune teller, who precicts a life of loneliness for the ghost boy. Distraught, Danny runs away, leaving Valerie, Tucker, and Sam to fend for themselves against a whole new threat...


Hello once again, people! I'm back! After my long period of _absentia_, I've finally come back to where it all started for me with one of my newer fics! Unlike my previous ones, this one will be a two-parter, in tune with the episodes of Danny Phantom.

Also, a note for those who have seen the episodes not aired in the US: this fic takes place between the second and third season. Just clearing that up!

Now then, _lu bien!_

* * *

Danny Phantom looked upon the work below him, and found it good. 

No...more than good. Magnificent.

The Annual Amity Park Street Fair was a tradition among those who lived in the little town. Once a year, people of all kinds could forget their troubles and have a good time at the fair. There were rides to be ridden, games to be played, and prizes to win. It was just the thing to brighten the spirits–no pun intended–of a town that had fallen on bad fortune nowadays.

And now, thanks to the gracious sponsorship of a certain Wisconsin-based multi-billionaire, the fair would be even more grandiose than it usually was. Even now, giant, state-of-the-art Ferris wheels, shooting galleries, and vomit-inducing Graviton rides were being set up in the center of the park, where the fair took place every year.

Truly it was marvelous. One couldn't ask for a better view.

Although...Danny could.

You see, it was hard to enjoy this sort of view while you were being blasted at by a girl in a high-tech nanobot suit that had been chasing you for six miles ever since eight in the morning.

"Get back here!" Valerie shouted at her fleeing quarry. "Get back here so I can blast you!"

As the ghost-hunter unleashed another barrage of violet ecto-fire from her wrist-gun, Danny silently regretted getting up early that morning. He had wanted to sit on the rooftop to the clocktower, which overlooked the entire fair being set up. But he hadn't counted on his friend-slash-foe patrolling the area and seeing him as a threat.

Danny wove around Valerie's fire, the violet beams whizzing past his black-and-white hazmat uniform. This was getting too close for comfort. He had to prevent this fight from doing any more damage.

"Will you get off my case already?!" he shouted at his pursuer. "What did I do to you?!"

Valerie shot back, "You _exist!_"

Even from his faraway flight point, Danny could see the sneer on the girl's face as she chased him. To even imagine that he and her could be good friends seemed preposterous at times.

And yet that was true. Even as their alter-egos fought one another repeatedly over the last few months, at the same time their human selves had become very good friends. At one time, the two had even considered becoming more than that. But, eventually, Valerie's self-appointed duty to eradicate ghosts won out, and a deeper relationship could never be.

This was why Valerie's words stung so much. Because the two of them would always be enemies, as long as Danny Phantom existed. Nothing would change that.

Burying such musings in the deep recesses of his mind, Danny turned his flight path around, heading straight for Valerie through her firestorm of ecto-bolts. Seeing her not as the girl he once pined for, but as an enemy, he launched a blast of his own ghostly energy straight at her nanotech jet-sled.

The ray hit home, the glider split in two, and Valerie was sent catapulting through the air and down into the forested area of the park. A sickening splintering sound could be heard by Danny; most likely the girl was crashing through some trees or something of the like. Hopefully, the armor would protect her from serious harm.

"Whew..." Danny panted. "Now to find a safe place to hide..."

Looking around briefly, the ghost-boy spied a nearby tent that had been set up for the fair. Most likely a closed ride, or something being constructed. Just as Valerie had conjured another flying device, Danny had landed behind the tent, and two pale rings passed along his body. Almost instantly, the black-and-white hazmat suit with the "DP" monogram disappeared, giving way to a white and red t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers. His hair changed from white to black, his eyes from green to blue. Now, he was effectively concealed as Danny Fenton.

Valerie flew overhead, looking around for where Danny Phantom might have gone. Then, when she was satisfied with appearances, she flew away.

Danny sighed, walking around the back of the tent and thinking about what had just transpired. It was nothing new–Valerie had been chasing him for several months, practically at the same time he had become half-ghost. Things had only gotten harder, too, when she received an upgrade when her original gear was destroyed a couple of months ago. Danny never knew where the upgrade had come from, but it had, without a doubt, increased her power to a point where she was on par with her nemesis.

_Just another thing that's driving us to the brink..._ he thought.

As Danny was walking along, lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice the person he bumped into. He reeled back, half expecting a fight, when he saw a tall, well-built African-American man with kind eyes that twinkled out from a set of glasses. He wore casual businesswear, and sported a thick moustache above his thin mouth.

Danny knew this face well. It was Damon Gray, Security Director of Axion Labs and Valerie's father.

"Danny," Damon said, sounding pleasantly surprised. "I didn't expect you were here."

"I didn't really expect to be here, Mr. Gray," Danny replied.

"Well then," Damon said, "since you're here, you can help us set up some of the booths. That is, if you want."

"Oh, I don't think–"

"Hi, Daddy!" came a young woman's voice.

Valerie Gray had emerged from behind one of the booths, a bruise evident on her right arm. Danny winced at the injury–she hadn't come from their little scrap completely unscathed.

"Hey there, sweetie," Damon replied, hugging Valerie. "So, are you ready to test out the rides?"

"Test out the rides?" Danny asked.

"Yes," Damon said. "Since I work with our sponsor for this fair, Valerie gets to test out the new version of the Graviton."

"Exactly," Valerie added. "Seeya, Danny!"

Danny waved at the girl as she walked towards the shining saucer-shaped ride. It made him think of the time they spent together as friends. The time that actually seemed to nullify their violent existence with one another.

"Seeya, Val." His voice was almost a whisper as he walked away.

From the shadows of a large red and black tent, the tall man was effectively concealed from the boy's sight.

His dull emerald eyes shone brightly as he watched the boy slink away, his head hung low. He was apparently depressed about something. Something already known by the man.

Retreating farther into his tent without a sound, the tall man sat down at a table and withdrew a simple deck of playing cards from a holster on his hip. Setting the deck out on the table, he drew a single, solitary card from the top. In the dim light of the tent, it showed a five of diamonds.

He stared at the card a very long time.

"Well, well..." His voice was deep, echoing, and cavernous, with a trace of accent. "The boy is worried about his identity..."

He drew another card, revealing a five of spades.

"A weakness that will lead to his defeat..."

The tall man grinned, his eyes taking on a distinctly red cast.

"...and to _my_ victory."

He chuckled lightly, his voice echoing in the darkness...

* * *

_**(Roll intro)**_

_**He's a Phantom...**_

* * *

**ALL TO PLAY FOR**

_The Bet: Your Lives!_

* * *

Later that day, the fair was alight with activity. Nearly the entire population of Amity Park had turned up for the event, as the fair day was considered a technical holiday amongst the city's businesses. And all of these people were participating in everything the fair had to offer: rides, contests, foods, and much more.

For instance, as of 12:17 P.M., Danny Fenton, Tucker Foley, and Sam Manson had been rendered nauseated by the awesome centripetal force of the Trabant ride. They could barely stand by the time the machine ceased its spinning and they got off.

"Oh man..." Tucker groaned. "I think we're about to see that funnel cake I had earlier again..."

"Just go to the restroom for that this time..." Sam said dryly.

The techno-geek righted his balance and screwed up his eyes, saying, "It's alright. False alarm."

Danny, meanwhile, was having trouble readjusting to normal conditions. Every step he took seemed to place his center of gravity at the top of his head, and his eyes were literally spiraling in their sockets.

"Hey Danny," Tucker asked his off-balanced friend. "You okay?"

"Wha...?" Danny replied, blinking a few times. He shook his head vigorously. "Yeah, I'll be okay..."

"I hope so," Sam said. "I've seen you guys barf enough for one day..."

As the three kids walked through the crowd, Sam and Tucker marveled at how the fair had become so advanced this year. Danny had told his friends that Vlad Masters had been behind the funding of this year's fair, and warned them to keep on their guard. But to them, it seemed harmless. No ghosts were in sight, or within range of Danny's ghost sense. Everything seemed alright, and they were going to enjoy it.

Danny, however, had a sullen expression on his face the entire day.

Finally, as they walked through the Midway, Sam spoke. "Danny, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," he replied flatly.

"Danny..." Tucker said disapprovingly.

"Okay, okay..." Danny said. "I'm just thinking, that's all."

"Then why are you so down?" Tucker asked. "When we went on the Yo-Yo, you didn't scream once! That's not natural."

"It's just that..." Danny began, "well, have you noticed that not a lot of people like me lately?"

"What do you mean?" Sam asked.

"It's like this," Danny said. "Even after all I do to make the world safer, someone always tries to blast me or punch me or rip me apart or some other nonsense."

"Like who?" Tucker asked skeptically.

"The Guys in White, my mom and dad, Valerie..." Danny's voice trailed away on the last word. He then said, "No matter what I do, someone always wants a piece of me. And, to tell you the truth, I'm pretty sick of it."

"Danny," Sam said, "don't worry about them. They just don't understand."

"No; they don't care," Danny replied. "I mean, Valerie and me were becoming the best of friends, but ever since she got that new ghost-hunting gear, she's been kinda...obsessive, lately. She doesn't talk to me for more than a few seconds, and when she does, it's always about ghosts."

"Speaking of which..." Sam pointed to a nearby tent colored in red and black.

And, sure enough, Valerie Gray was there, walking out of the flap in the tent. She seemed intent on her watch, staring at it with the intensity that Danny had seen just that morning. None of them knew what this meant, but it surely wasn't good.

Yet before Danny could hail her over, he heard two voices carry from down the Midway:

"_GHOST!!!_"

"_Get away from me, you maniac!_"

Turning his head in the direction of the shouting, Danny saw three people charging up the rows of fair games. Two–his mother and father, instantly recognizable by their Day-Glo colored jumpsuits–were chasing after the third, a tall man in violet robes with a matching turban.

The entire display wasn't lost on Valerie, who had wrenched her gaze from her watch to stare in confusion at Danny's parents and the man in purple. She ran over to the man, who was breathing heavily from his unwanted exercise, and started to converse with the Fentons in a tone outside the earshot of Danny, Tucker, and Sam.

"What was that all about?" Tucker asked.

"I dunno..." Danny asked, "but since Vlad's sponsoring this fair, anything ghost-related might be his work..."

The three teens ran over to the group of four people, Danny paying close attention to his breath to see if his ghost-sense went off. They found the Fentons arguing with the man in violet robes, while Valerie tried unsuccessfully to edge her way into the conversation.

"Mom? Dad?" Danny called over the arguing.

The four people turned to Danny and his friends. "Hey! Danny!" Jack said boisterously. "So how's my son and his buddies enjoying the fair?"

"Wait a minute," the tall man said, looking at Danny. "Are you the son of this horrid man?"

Danny's eyes shifted from side to side. "Um...yes."

"I'll have you know that these two think I'm a ghost, for some reason or other. And they already attacked me with their idiotic weaponry!"

"That's idiotic _Fenton _weaponry, mister!" Jack retorted.

"Jack, calm down!" Maddie said. "Maybe this man's right. Maybe it's our equipment acting up again."

Danny looked at the device in his father's hand. It was a shiny arc of metal with many green wires and lights studded onto its chrome surface. The Fenton Boo-Merang; a device that could be used to track ghosts over great distances. Although there were doubts to its reliability in the Fenton family: it had keyed onto Danny many times before, and Jack and Maddie never knew why.

The teen, however, knew that the device worked. Very well.

But why wasn't his ghost sense going off?

"Well..." Jack mumbled, "sorry for chasing you. And blasting at you. And hitting you with the Boo-Merang."

The tall man in violet sniffed. "Very well. I have better things to do than be chased around by ghost hunters."

As Jack and Maddie walked away down the Midway, the man in purple dusted himself off and turned to the four remaining teens. In particular, he seemed mildly interested in Danny more than anyone else.

Danny looked at the man, and his first impression was of height. He was at least a foot taller than Danny, but the perfect poise of his body made him seem even taller. His face was tall and gaunt, with high cheekbones and eyebrows that looked as though they had been painted on as makeup. The chin was long and tapered, with a goatee on its point, making the head look very much like an inverted teardrop. The man's hands were long and dexterous, and the nails on the fingertips were so long that one might mistake them for an eagle's talons.

At close range, the man's clothes looked even stranger than before. His violet robes were embroidered with patterns of the symbols found on playing cards: spades, clubs, hearts, and diamonds. Also, in the center of his turban was a playing card, the ace of spades. He looked as though his clothes had gone through the wash with a deck of cards he'd left in his pocket.

It was Valerie who spoke first. "Excuse me...um, why did those two think you were a ghost?" she asked the man.

"Because their infernal machine said I was one," the man replied. "The thing probably doesn't even work..." He turned to Danny. "No offense."

"Yeah..." Danny said warily, watching his breath carefully. "Just who are you?"

"My name is Solitaire," the man said flatly. He offered his hand, and Danny shook it. Then, for the briefest instant, Solitaire's dull, emerald-green eyes opened wide, took on an almost red cast, and stared right into Danny's. In Danny's mind, it was as though the man were staring right through his eyes and into the back of his head like an x-ray. Then the eyes drooped and Solitaire took his hand away. "What is your name, my boy?" he asked.

Danny paused for a moment. He didn't trust the x-ray-like glare that this man had just given him. It had been as though Solitaire had taken a mental snapshot of the boy and put it away in his brain.

"Danny," the teen said cautiously. "Danny Fenton."

Solitaire then looked at Tucker and Sam, repeating his earlier stare. His eyes bored into theirs, then fell again. "And them?"

"Tucker and Sam," Danny said.

The man nodded, and turned to Valerie. "And what about you?"

"My name's Valerie," the girl said uncaringly. "Quick question: why are you in that getup?"

"It's traditional gypsy wear," Solitaire explained. "My ancestors came from Eastern Europe, and I hold to many of their traditions."

"And the playing card symbols?" Tucker asked.

"A hobby of mine. I'm a fortune teller, and I use playing cards instead of tarot cards."

Sam snorted. "I don't believe that for a second."

"Don't believe what?" Solitaire asked.

"That you can tell people's fortune. All that's a crock. Not one living person can accurately predict the future or past."

Solitaire's thin lips creased in a smile. "Really? Another skeptic? How about a bet on it?"

"A bet?" Sam asked.

"Yes, a bet. I'll tell one of your pasts for free, and we'll see if I'm right. Do we have a deal?"

Sam smiled wryly before shaking Solitaire's outstretched hand. "You got it. So who's gonna be this fake's subject?"

"Well..." Valerie said, "I've got some business to do..."

"How about you, Danny?" Tucker asked.

"Alright," Danny said confidently. He had never believed in fortune tellers either. "I'll do this."

"Very well," Solitaire said. "Come with me."

Danny followed Solitaire down the Midway of the fair, taking in all the sights. Many of the people he knew from school were here: Dash and Kwan were blasting away at targets in a shooting gallery, Paulina and Star were enjoying candy apples, and countless other faces whose names Danny couldn't remember were congregating near the Ferris wheel, waiting their turn in line.

When his eyes fell back on Solitaire, however, he shuddered with a feeling of dread. He saw that when the man walked, his knees did not dent the royal violet sheen of his robes, and his feet did not show below the hem. It was as though he were gliding along the ground instead of walking.

Within minutes, they had reached a large tent with a red and black design. From the landmarks around it, Danny recognized the spot as the exact center of the town; the spot where he and Valerie had fought that morning. They entered the flap in the tent, and Danny shuddered again. The interior was dimly lit with a series of red and black candles, casting eerie light around. The smell of incense hung in the air, making it hard to breathe. In the center of the tent was a small, circular table with two chairs facing opposite each other.

"Alright," Danny said, sitting down. "Let's just get this over with..."

"Don't be so skeptical, my boy," Solitaire said in his soft, resonant tone.

"Why not?" Danny asked irritably. "I mean, Sam's right, you know. This is all just a bunch of garbage you cooked up to get people's money. That's really pathetic, you know that?"

Irritation flickered at the sides of Solitaire's mouth as he took the seat opposite Danny. "Really? Pathetic?" He took a pack of cards out and started to shuffle. "There is nothing pathetic about this. I can see anything I want with these."

"Then prove it," Danny said. "Tell something about me that you know."

"Alright, Mr. Fenton..." Solitaire set his cards down and dealt one off the top. It showed a jack of spades.

"Or..." Solitaire said, with a hint of satisfaction in his voice, "should I call you 'Danny Phantom'?"

Danny's eyes shot wide. He had lost all ability to speak.

Solitaire smiled thinly, cruelty evident in his lips. "Am I a fake now?"

"Wh...What did you say?" Danny stammered.

The gash in Solitaire's face that was his smile opened. "Don't be so surprised, my boy. After all you've seen and done, you don't think that precognition actually could be performed?"

Incense flooding his sinuses, Danny blinked twice. This man did have a point. He'd witnessed–even performed–multiple examples of supernatural feats time and time again. Was he to be shocked that one more "impossible" feat had been done before his very eyes?

"Perhaps I should explain the circumstances," Solitaire continued. "I'm what's known as a medium, Danny Phantom; a person attuned to the spiritual energies and prescience apparent in everyone. You and I are very much alike, in the sense that we have both harnessed the power of the Ghost Zone for our own use."

Danny raised a brow. "What does fortune-telling have to do with the Ghost Zone?"

"Ectoplasm is the matter most attuned to human psychokinetic energy," the tall man sighed. "It is how I theorize a ghost forms: the electromagnetic pattern that makes up a person's consciousness survives after death, and builds itself a new body on a parallel plane of existence. And this same energy can be used to tap into visions of the past and future. Surely, you've witnessed this power before in your travels?"

Thinking back, Danny _had_ seen visions of the future before, with the aid of other ghosts. Clockwork, the ghost of time, and the Observants had the distinct power to see into the time yet to come. Slowly and cautiously, he nodded.

Solitaire smiled once more, his wound of a mouth thinly creasing. "Now then," he said, "would you like your fortune or not, Mr. Fenton?"

Danny sighed. What did he have to lose? "Sure."

As the teen leaned back in his chair, Solitaire started shuffling the cards with almost inhuman dexterity. His long, claw-like fingers flew back and forth as the cards shifted and folded into one another within the deck. It was like watching a master blackjack dealer at work.

After he'd finished the long and complicated process of randomizing the draw, the tall man drew three cards and placed them on the table. The first card faced center, the second left, and the third right.

"Now, my boy..." Solitaire said, "each of these cards signifies a time in a person's life. The first represents the past, the second present, and the third future. Do you follow?"

Danny nodded, his eyes never leaving the cards.

"Good. Let's see what we have here..."

With one fluid motion, Solitaire flipped the past card over. It showed an ace of clubs.

"According to this," he elucidated, "you recently experienced a powerful rebirth of some sort, most likely when you acquired your ghost powers..."

Before Danny could confirm this, the man had already flipped the center card, revealing a five of hearts.

"...But this rebirth has led to a series of events that has caused you great sorrow and emotional anguish..."

He flipped the remaining card, but seemed to take some time with it. The last card showcased a ten of spades. At this, Solitaire's green eyes widened, slowly drawing towards Danny. The worried stare made the boy uncomfortable to an extreme degree.

"...Anguish," Solitaire said, "that will continue to culminate until complete and absolute ruin is visited upon your life."

"Wait a minute," Danny said after the cartomancy was over. "This can't be true... My life's going perfectly fine, even with my ghost powers. There's no reason for my life to go bad..."

"Is there?" Solitaire asked. "What about your relationship with Valerie Gray?"

At this, Danny's heart skipped a beat. "What do you mean?"

"That young woman with whom you were conversing," he said. "There's something special between you two, and it's not just that you potentially like each other. It's the fact that each of you has a double life. Double lives that ruined your relationship on both sides."

Danny gulped. It was true, what Solitaire was saying.

"So what would happen if this same effect were to occur with other people in your life? Your family? Your friends? All driven away by the power you possess, the secrets you keep..."

Sagging into the chair in which he was sitting, Danny let Solitaire's words sink into his mind. It was all entirely plausible, what this man was suggesting. Gaining ghost powers and becoming a superhero had taken quite the toll on his personal life. What if it led him down a road where nothing could be fixed?

What if it ruined him?

"Listen, Danny..." Solitaire said, interrupting the boy's thoughts. "If it were up to me, I'd change your fate, but as far as I know, Fate cannot be changed. I'm very sorry."

Danny sighed, getting up to leave the tent. "Don't be. It's _my_ fault... All of it."

* * *

_Why does it have to be this way?_ he thought. _Why does everything bad always happen to me? Can't I get a break? Just once?_

Danny Phantom finished packing the rest of his essential belongings into his backpack and slung it over his shoulder. Many of the things in his room were gone, having been thrown into the pack, which now felt quite heavy. But it was all needed for the long journey ahead.

The journey Danny had decided to go on for the sake of his friends and family.

It brought a tear to his eye, thinking of how it would hurt them. However, thanks to Solitaire's vision, he now knew that to be an inevitability. Better to get it over with in one stroke than drudge it out painfully, like it had been with Valerie.

He'd been thinking of their friendship, and how it had all but fallen apart due to their respective secrets. How an enemy had manipulated their emotions to get the best of them. How any chance of a deeper relationship had been shattered. Perhaps forever.

And through it all, Danny could only come to one conclusion about Valerie and him.

They were going to kill each other.

Perhaps he'd kill her, perhaps she'd kill him.

Perhaps sooner, perhaps later.

Now, Danny was taking the first step to do something different and avoid that seemingly inevitable outcome.

From inside the backpack, a ring-tone came. Pawing through the haphazard collection of belongings, Danny withdrew a cell-phone, setting it to "TALK" and putting it to his ear.

"Hello," he greeted sulkily.

"_Danny?_" Tucker's voice emanated from the phone. "_You sound sick... Are you okay? You've been acting weird all day..._"

"Tucker," Danny said, "I'm leaving. For good."

On the other end of the line was silence, followed by, "_Wh–What do you mean?_"

"I can't stay here anymore, because I'll only end up driving you and everyone else I care about away. I'm just leaving now, so it'll be less painful. Goodbye, Tuck."

"_Danny! Wai–_" But Danny had already hung up the phone, tucking it back into his backpack.

Finally, he wrote a short note to his parents:

_Dear Mom and Dad,_

_Goodbye. I probably won't see you again. Tell Jazz goodbye for me when she gets back from visiting Yale._

_Love,_

_Danny._

Pinning the note to his door, Danny then looked out the window, musing upon all his ghost powers had ever brought him: misery, anguish, and solitude. Sighing deeply, he flew through the window at top speed, wanting to get as far away from his old life as possible. Behind him, the brownstone that was FentonWorks faded into the distance.

Regretting nothing but what his friends would think, Danny Phantom flew west into the sunset, repeating to himself:

"It's for the best. It's for the best. It's for the best..."

* * *

"_Contrariwise,_" Valerie Gray read, "_if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic._" 

As she mulled over that line, Valerie wished for the fiftieth time that she didn't have to do this extra credit book report on Lewis Carroll's _Through the Looking Glass_. But then again, such was life. You had to do things that you didn't want to on occasion in order to traverse through the tough times.

And boy, did she know about tough times.

The life she had treasured had been obliterated by ghosts. In response–and with the aid of a very special benefactor–she decided to revisit this injustice upon all of ghostkind, and make them feel the very same pain that she felt every day.

But that was just part of her existence. By night, she was a ghost-hunting vigilante; by day, she was a lowly cashier at the Nasty Burger. It was something that took quite a bit of time out of her life, and she always regretted that she wasn't able to devote herself to her ghost-hunting all of the time.

Valerie then began to read the book again, skimping over the line about Alice being merely part of someone's dream. Yet, about halfway through the section, her cell phone rang. Checking the caller I.D., she saw it to be Tucker Foley.

"Yes, what is it, Foley?" she asked, annoyed that the techno-geek was interrupting.

"_Val! You've gotta help!_" Tucker shouted from the other end of the line. "_None of us know what to do!_"

"Whoa! Cool your jets, Foley," she said, trying to decipher the boy's speech. "What do you mean?"

"_I mean Danny ran away! He called earlier, saying he was leaving for good! We searched everywhere for him, and we can't find him!_"

Valerie's throat constricted as Tucker said the words. Danny had run away? But why on Earth would he do that? And if he did, where did he go to?

"Tucker..." she managed to say, "I'll be right there. Just tell me where to meet you."

"_Well, we've already got a pretty good idea where to start..._"

* * *

Now cloaked in the comforting guise of her black-and-red nanotech battlesuit, Valerie sped across the Amity Park skyline towards the park fairgrounds–the last place Danny had been seen–to meet Sam Manson and Tucker Foley.

And hopefully, find out what had prompted Danny's extreme actions.

There was a certain something to having a secret identity that Valerie appreciated. Without her human face, nobody knew who she was beneath her mask. Without her human flaws, she was free of weakness, sorrow, and guilt. It was truly liberating.

However, the secret identity came at a price. Because of her duties that she had, she had great concern over how to express her feelings towards a deeper relationship with Danny. She couldn't risk losing him or seeing him get hurt just because she wasn't able to prevent him from getting caught in the crossfire.

But that didn't mean that she was just going to ignore him. She still had great concern over his well-being, and she was going to protect him from anything that would dare to harm him.

_Especially ghosts._

As she landed somewhere in the forest near the center of the town, Valerie's jet sled converted itself back into a nanite cloud, along with the rest of her suit. Now back in her human guise, she quickly trekked through the wooded terrain, making record time in reaching the spot near the red-and-black tent where she'd met Danny that morning.

And sure enough, Sam and Tucker were there, concerned expressions on both their faces.

"Alright, I'm here..." Valerie panted. "Now could someone please explain to me why you told me to come here of all places?"

"Because," Sam replied, gesturing to the dual-colored cloth, "this guy in the tent that we saw earlier today... I think he's got something to do with this."

"Solitaire?" Tucker asked. "But why?"

"I don't know," Sam confessed. "I just have a bad feeling about him..."

Valerie sighed. "Fine. But if we don't get any leads, we do this _my_ way. Alright?"

"We'll see..." Sam said evenly.

With Sam leading the way, the three teens peeked into the tent to find Solitaire sitting at his little table, performing a complex one-handed shuffle with his deck of cards. Then, the goth cleared her throat quite loudly, possibly intending to prompt a reaction from the fortune teller.

But none came. He simply sat there and said, "Ah... I had a feeling you three would come..."

Valerie and Tucker followed Sam as she marched right up to Solitaire and pointed her index finger at him like a pistol. "Alright, you creep, enough with the cold reading! Where's Danny?!"

No expression crossed Solitaire's face. "Your young friend? How should I know?"

"You were the last one to talk to him in person!" Tucker said, joining in the yelling. "You _should_ know!"

"Well, I don't." The man's voice was uncannily calm. "So if you three will just leave my tent..."

Valerie had then had enough. Stepping forward, she slammed her fist down on the table, her bracelets clattering with the wood. "Listen here, you... Danny's a friend of mine. And if you think that we're gonna leave just because you say that you don't know anything about his disappearance, you're out of your mind!"

Finally, a reaction came from the fortune teller.

But it wasn't what Valerie expected. She'd expected something like fear or anger or even compliance.

Instead, the man's thin lips creased into a smug grin.

"You three really are smarter than I gave you credit for..." he said, a hint of arrogance lining his deep, cavernous voice. "However, that doesn't mean that I'm going to let you interfere with my plans."

Puzzled, Valerie asked, "What do you mean?"

Instead of a verbal answer, she got a physical one. Taking the card deck he'd been shuffling, Solitaire drew three cards off the top and tossed them at the three kids. Before she knew what was happening, the cards had each grown to the size of rugs, and had wrapped around the three, rendering their arms bound and helpless. The rest of the card deck was now floating around Solitaire, circling him like a miniature tornado.

"I was planning on my hostile takeover happening next afternoon," he said gravely. "But it seems that you've forced my hand."

Valerie then watched in horror as the cards implanted themselves in the earth beneath their feet. A split second afterwards, glowing emerald erupted from the ground, sprouting upwards like beanstalks. One in particular, plateau-like in design, started to raise the four people into the air as the rest of the crystals ripped the tent to shreds.

Up, up they went to dizzying heights as the city of Amity Park became smaller and smaller beneath them. Looking down, Valerie saw numerous crystals identical to those in the tent sprouting up all around town. Panicked citizens were fleeing for their lives as their homes were encased in cold, unforgiving emerald. Seas of people surged into the streets, desperately trying to flee the onslaught of growing mineral terror.

The air started to become thin as they rose to the heavens, the three teens gasping for breath in the night sky. Luckily, the situation didn't endure, as the crystals that had grown all around them were now encasing them in a protective, green-tinted dome.

Finally, the great uprising of the emeralds had stopped. Valerie, Tucker, and Sam looked down: they seemed to be miles above the city, which was now fully encased in glittering green crystal. Below, the entire population of Amity Park had been driven from their metropolis, congregating in a deluge of humanity that was now roaring with disapproval.

Looking back to Solitaire, Sam shouted, "You monster! It was your fault Danny left! You're a _ghost!!!_"

Sure enough, Valerie witnessed Solitaire's skin change from flesh colored to a sickly green hue, which spread like a disease over his body. His eyes, once emerald green, were now a bright crimson, glowing with malevolence.

"Indeed, child," he said smugly. "But it's far too late for you to utilize that knowledge. This city is mine to command and control. And you three... _are my prisoners._"

And within the new crystal tower that cast a mighty shadow over the exiled citizens of Amity Park, a completely new world began to take form.

* * *

**CUT TO COMMERCIAL...**

* * *

And there you have it! Reviews and constructive critique are greatly appreciated; I'd really like to know how I can improve my works!

Until the second act! AWAY!!! (Flies off...)


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